You could say it's been a week of changing colours as we've
sailed south westwards towards the Falkland Islands and Stanley. It started
with lovely blue skies and calm seas of the tropics which soon turned grey and
rough the more we headed south. Having said that as we write the sun has come
out again and the calm seas have returned, but the distinct nip in the air
tells us that things have changed for the cooler. The approach of our
destination and our proximity to land have been marked by the increasing number
of wildlife sightings enjoyed. First there were the majestic nomads of the
oceans, the Wandering Albatrosses. They were soon joined by the Cape Pigeons
and the Greyhead and Black Browed Albatrosses and then this morning we had our
first sightings of seals and penguins. The pictures below show Captain
Paterson, in teacher mode, taking a sight of Venus in a blue sky earlier in the
week and the picture right is of a Greyhead Albatross over stormy seas. Click
to enlarge.

Captain Paterson taking a sight of Venus. Click
to enlarge

Greyhead Albatross in stormy seas. Click to
enlarge

There was a report that the rough weather was the work of
someone caught whistling on deck by the Bosun, their punishment hasn't been
recorded. Who says sailors are superstitious? - Touch wood!

Science Bit In The Middle - Atlantic Meridional
Transect (AMT13)

So another cruise is almost over and it's that packing time
once more. The labs fill with empty boxes only for them to leave once more
full. Within a few days those spaces that have been a scene of so much activity
over the last five weeks will be standing empty awaiting new occupants. So here
we are bringing you a couple of final tasters of the science that has been
conducted onboard. Deciding how to describe the science is often quite hard as
much of it happens in test tubes and within the bowels of various machines on a
cruise like this. The numbers that come tumbling out of them might send their
owners into raptures, but don't always translate to the written word for us
none science types. However, we try our best and here are some items that we
hope will enlighten us all.

Optics

The ocean we see before us is generally blue in colour
with changes to green, grey or brown dependant on our proximity to land and/or
the weather. This is because pure water reflects blue light and if there is
nothing to reflect the other colours then blue is all we see. Then satellites
orbiting the earth looking down at this changing colour of the sea and using
the data to interpret the amount of life and production within the oceans.

The image here is of Chlorophyll through out the Atlantic ocean.
It's made up of images taken over several days by the satellite. The blues show
low levels, while the highs are shown by the reds and yellows.

However, to make sense of the images from space,
measurements are taken down here on earth to make sure we understand what the
satellites are telling us. As apart of our work here we have optical
instruments on the Ctd and a dedicated optics frame that you can see being
deployed in the picture below. The back ground shows the midships gantry
deploying the Ctd and the forward science crane with zooplankton nets "fishing"
from it.

Over the side working!. Click to enlarge.

The frame's instruments give details of the waters optical
properties along with information concerning make up of the water and the life
living within it. However, what project that involves NASA would be complete
without its very own rocket? So Chris Lowe displays his below. Unfortunately it
isn't powered and only travels downwards through the water under the force of
gravity. Though, apparently, it supplies lots of lovely numbers from the four
radiometers that make up the edges of its wings. Two of which point down to
measure the light being reflected upwards by the water below the rocket and two
face up to measure the light penetrating from above. All the information
collected helps us to understand the oceans and the life they contain. So in
future the satellite images alone may be used to predict the health of huge
areas of the oceans very quickly and accurately

The pictures below show Chris at our version of Cape
Kennedy - Ready, Steady, FIRE! All that is with the power of one person! Don't
worry there is a recovery device in the form of a cable which remains attached
to the ship.

Zooplankton - Paul's Party!

Last week we talked about Plankton in its various guises
and thought afterwards how could we get some pictures to bring the variety of
creatures to life for our readers. Then remembered that we'd forgotten all
about Paul Hampton and his film studio. He's been busy throughout the cruise
collecting and identifying animals for his experiments. Paul can be seen below
in his version of the "Cutting Room" where he films zooplankton from his
microscope.

Paul Hampton in front of his
microscope where he filmed the following images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks to Paul and his production assistant Pat Cooper for
allowing us to publish the stunning images below and, of course, Mother Nature
for producing them.

Yes it's all there throughout the oceans. A little
something to think about next time you're down the beach paddling around.

Who's In Charge Then?

So who is then? Well on this cruise it's Carol Robinson
from Plymouth Marine Labs (PML) and Carol is also the coordinator for the whole
AMT project. I think the picture below displays a little relief that must be
felt as the last Ctd comes back onboard. Yes the end is nigh and all those
thoughts of lie-ins and a whole nights sleep are no longer just fantasies.

Carol Robinson our Chief Scientist -
The End Is Nigh! Click to enlarge.

For those of you keen to find out more about the science
AMT have their own website at www.amt-uk.org and remember they will be back.
Yes, AMT14 is coming to a webpage near you in April/May 2004.

DANGER - Doctor At Work!

Anyone need any decorating doing? Click to enlarge.

Emma's painting has been put to the test over the last
couple of weeks, starting with fire hydrants, then a little stenciling and
finally some varnishing. Though we could only show this picture as she has a
hat on. Apparently she doesn't want to show her new hair cut to the world just
yet. It was shortened the day after crossing the line (with permission), but
the result was maybe a little shorter than planned! Watch this space for a
picture! Though with several months of hat wearing is to come as the chill wind
starts to blow, it could take a while....

A final thought and so Until Next week...

So how did your Monday morning start? Those doing the early
morning station last Monday were treated to a stunning sunrise and we must
thank Carol for the picture below.

How did you start Monday morning? Click to enlarge.

We leave you this week with Stanley in our sights. Our
arrival is due for Tuesday, but if the weather holds we might even make it on
Monday evening. That would be good, as the weather doesn't look good for us
berthing if we have to wait until Tuesday. We then have several days in port
discharging the cruise and moving things in readiness for the first logistics
leg to South Georgia. Antarctica here we come!

But first we have the matter of a cruise dinner, the
crossing the line movie and a few dodgy awards to get through! So until next
week...